Just a Feeling
by pink-strawberry-lemonade
Summary: "I'm afraid of turning into my father," Zuko whispered, as if he feared the statement itself./ oneshot / All canon pairings


Just a Feeling

_by pink-strawberry-lemonade_

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><p>Fire Lord Zuko's eyes blinked lazily open as he took in a deep breath. Even in the throes of winter, the Fire Nation's temperatures remained comfortably warm. Extra humidity replaced the waning heat, and today was no exception.<p>

As he sat up, Zuko moved cautiously as he felt the peaceful presence of his sleeping wife beside him. He didn't want to wake her, so he left the bed carefully and slowly. Zuko stretched, gazing at Mai with adoration.

Today, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Suki were visiting the palace. Iroh and Toph had arrived the previous afternoon, and the visit was becoming a reunion of sorts. It was the first time in a long time that they had been able to relax and enjoy each other's company without a tedious task that had to be dealt with first.

True, the war had ended well over a year ago, but many things had to be taken care of afterwards. Just thinking about all the stress made Zuko rub his temples.

_It's too early to be thinking about all of this_, he decided, and ran his fingers through his hair before peeking out the window. A small smile spread across his lips as he watched the sun rise, and he inhaled deeply. He could almost feel the power the sun gave him, and it felt rejuvenating.

Zuko turned back to Mai, smiling again as he watched her sleep. Just a thin sheet covered her still form, as the previous night air had hung heavy with humidity as well. Her black hair flowed across the pillows, free from the usual bindings she wore it in. There was a pink tint to her fair cheeks, and Zuko wondered for a minute if the room was too warm for her.

Mai stirred slightly, and shifted onto her side, humming contentedly. When her arm rested on the now empty space where Zuko slept, her eyes fluttered open, and her mouth twisted into a small frown.

"Zuko?" she called softly. Zuko turned from the window, making his way back to the bed.

"Yes?" he responded quietly, meeting her gaze with a smile.

"Good morning," Mai moved to the middle of the bed, and grabbed Zuko's wrist gently, pulling him in for a kiss. He very willingly reciprocated, knowing that there was nowhere that they had to be right now.

A sudden knock on their bedroom door scared them, and they jumped apart. Zuko cleared his throat before addressing the person waiting outside.

"Who's there?" Zuko asked tentatively.

"My Lord, if this is a bad time…" Zuko recognized the voice of one of his advisors; this one in particular was always brown-nosing and sucking up. To call it annoying was a large understatement to Zuko. He quietly groaned before replying.

"No," Zuko sighed audibly, "What is it?"

"The Avatar and your other friends have arrived," the advisor announced, and Zuko answered excitedly,

"Give us ten minutes."

Zuko heard the advisor rush away, and he began rapidly pulling clothes out of the wardrobe in the corner.

"Slow down, we've got time," Mai purred, wrapping her arms around Zuko from behind, "Besides, the world won't end if we're late for breakfast."

Zuko chuckled softly, turning to lean into his wife's embrace. Mai hummed contentedly, pulling away slightly to gaze up at her husband. He closed the gap between them almost immediately, fusing their lips and forgetting the world around them.

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><p>Zuko and Mai strolled hand-in-hand to the dining room where everyone was waiting. They already heard the distinctive laughter of their Airbender friend, and could only wonder what they would find at the breakfast table.<p>

"Good morning, everyone," Zuko announced as he and Mai entered in the room. Everyone greeted them excitedly, and Iroh invited the royal couple to join them at the table for tea before breakfast was served.

Zuko noticed that everyone sat in…couples. For instance, Sokka sat beside Suki while Aang sat beside Katara; the exceptions were Iroh and Toph. Zuko and Mai sat beside each other, as well, and their seats faced the rest of their friends.

Zuko and Mai were the first of their friends to get married; they were betrothed shortly after the war and married soon after. However, by the look of the new necklace Suki wore, she and Sokka weren't far behind. Aang and Katara were still too young to marry, but Zuko figured as soon as Aang was of age, he would make Katara his wife.

When their breakfast was served, the chatter died down and was replaced with eager munching. Iroh had brewed some Jasmine tea, which everyone enjoyed very much. Hums of appreciation and noisy slurps of tea were the only noises in the room.

"Zuko?" Mai suddenly spoke up, and everyone turned to her.

"Hm?" Zuko turned toward her, taking in a mouthful of tea.

"I'm pregnant," she announced matter-of-factly. There were mixed reactions from everyone: Toph sat with a smug look on her face, as though she had known all along. Katara and Suki had huge smiles. Iroh chuckled, looking pleased. Aang congratulated the couple, and Sokka said, "Way to go, Zuko!"

Zuko's reaction took the cake.

He was in the middle of sipping his tea when Mai announced this, and as he swallowed, half of the liquid travelled the wrong way down his throat. He began coughing violently, and three guards and the brown-nosing advisor rushed to his side, asking if he was okay and patting his back.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, really," Zuko insisted once he had caught his breath, and the guards and advisor walked away.

"Very smooth," Mai remarked, a small grin on her lips. However, once her eyes met Zuko's, her face fell.

"What's wrong?" she asked him quietly, knowing that everyone was listening intently.

"Oh, uh, nothing," Zuko lied quickly, "I'm just still trying to catch my breath."

"Are you sure you're okay, my Lord?" the brown-nosing advisor asked for the tenth time.

"I'm _fine_," Zuko insisted sternly, rolling his eyes. There was an awkward pause before Zuko excused himself, telling Aang and the rest of their friends to make themselves at home. They all watched uneasily as Zuko strode out of the room. Mai's brow scrunched in worry, and it seemed that she intended to follow him, but made no move to leave her seat.

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><p>After a few more moments of thick silence in the dining room, everyone dispersed, going off in different directions. Mai made up her mind to look for Zuko, and set out throughout the palace. Her first thoughts were to look in the obvious places, their bedroom, the balcony, the garden, but he wasn't found there. So, she took to wandering the halls, peeking in random doors and hoping to find him.<p>

During her walk, Mai thought about what chased Zuko off. _Obviously,_ she thought, _It's the fact that I'm pregnant_.

But she couldn't hold onto this thought any longer than it took to form. Even though it was a surprise, she was sure Zuko wouldn't resent her _or _the baby.

_It's probably the way I said it_, Mai continued to muse, _I kinda threw it in his face…but I'm not the best at 'announcing' things._

It was true; Mai's flat voice usually didn't carry much enthusiasm, no matter what she was talking about. It was just in her nature. She always seemed bored and wasn't an expert at conveying emotions. However, this doesn't mean that she doesn't have emotions.

Mai felt something trickle down her cheek, and a wetness on her eyelashes. _I'm…crying,_ Mai declared to herself in her head. She decided to wipe the tear away and keep going. Soon, however, her vision was blurry.

_I should probably take a break,_ Mai thought, and sat down against the tree she was standing under. Ironically enough, she ended up back in the garden, facing the fountain.

It was silent, and her sniffles echoed through the courtyard.

_I hate crying,_ she thought, wiping her eyes once more. She sighed in annoyance, wondering what could have made her so upset. But, before she could think of an answer, she heard a familiar voice calling to her.

"Mai?"

"Zuko?" she sniffed back, her voice thick with tears. She saw a figure emerging from behind the fountain, and sitting next to her under the tree. Sure enough, it was her husband, who put a gentle arm around her when he saw her tears.

"What's wrong?" he whispered delicately. Mai turned to look at him, and he immediately caressed her face with a soothing hand that wiped her tears away as they fell.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully, "But I was trying to find you. Where the heck did you go?"

"I'm sorry," Zuko apologized in a quiet voice, "I just…needed time to clear my head, you know?"

Mai sighed again, not sure how to reply. She turned her head away from Zuko, but he used the hand that still rested on her cheek to bring her eyes to meet his. There was a wordless exchange between them, and Mai leaned up to kiss her husband quickly.

"Are you…" she began hesitantly, "Are you upset about…?" Mai trailed off, not knowing how to finish her question, but hoping Zuko would get the point.

"Absolutely not," he stated firmly, "I'm not upset at all. I'm…I'm afraid."

"The Great and Mighty Fire Lord?" Mai asked with a small grin, trying to lighten the heavy mood, "Afraid? Not possible."

Zuko chuckled half-heartedly, but his smile didn't last long.

"I'm afraid of turning into my father," he whispered, as if he feared the statement itself. His fiery, amber eyes desperately searched Mai's teary gaze for a reaction, but he couldn't look long before Mai flung her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. More tears ran silently down her face, soaking into Zuko's shirt. He embraced her as if it were their last moment together, reminded of how much he loves her.

"Your father," Mai began, her voice muffled by Zuko's chest, "Is less than half of the man you are today. Not only will you _never_ turn into your father, but you will be a much better father than he _ever_ was."

Zuko held his wife tight again, closing his eyes, and repeating the mantra, "I love you" in a hushed whisper only for her to hear.

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><p>After a while, everyone started to search for the couple. Iroh found Mai and Zuko in the garden, and they still held each other in a tender embrace. He made sure they weren't disturbed, and let them be, leaving to tell the others where they were.<p>

The couple was oblivious to being discovered, as they were completely wrapped up in each other, forgetting the rest of the world.

"Are we even ready for this?" Mai asked quietly, her eyes meeting Zuko's with a genuine gaze.

"I suppose so," he replied truthfully, "Even if we aren't right now, we will be."

"I hope you're right," Mai whispered, half-concerned, and half-joking.

"Well, we're in it together," Zuko comforted, squeezing Mai a bit tighter. She leaned into him, closing her eyes. Perhaps everything _would_ turn out alright.

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><p><strong>AN: I feel like that was a terrible ending...well, let me know what you think in a review. If you have a suggestion to make it better, I might come back and fix it. Anyway, this was solely inspired by Zuko choking on something in response to Mai announcing her pregnancy. Literally, that's all I started out with. Everything else just flourished on its own. At one point I was going to deviate to _all_ the couples and how they felt about the prospect of a family, but decided to keep it Mai/Zuko centric. I hope you enjoyed this spur-of-the-moment oneshot; take care! I don't own A:TLA.**


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